Since the beginning of the 1960s, some psychologists, psychoanalysts and sociologists have pointed out a certain current trend called 'Pater Absconditus' in the families in advanced societies. They argued that this trend might have some negative influences on socialization of the youths.However, not only the criterion for judging of 'Pater Absconditus' but the concept itself have been ambiguous, and it is now needed to investigate how paternal functions are in reality, and what kind of conditions have influences on youths' visibility of their fathers' actual roles.The author made a social survey on this point at three junior high schools in a city in Shimane Prefecture. Respondents were 361 pupils and their fathers.The findings are as follows ;(1)While fathers estimated that they performed well most of their roles(except for the role as a "model" of socialized person), their children were apt to underevaluate them. (2)Among factors influencing on children's recognitions for their father's role-performances, two factors are especially important ; one is visibility of father's roles as well as observability from the statuses of children, the other is mothers' evaluations for fathers' role-performances. (3)Recognition of father's existence mostly depends, not on the role-performances by father, but rather on mother's evaluation of the father's performances. Therefore, the author found that child's or youth's recognition was settled by at least two-steps, firstly his/her own original one, and secondly modified via mother's one - and finally fixed one.